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A review by coffeedragon
Song of the Abyss by Makiia Lucier
3.0
I went through the previous posts for this blog tour and it looks like everyone knew that you could read this book as a standalone from Isle of Blood and Stone. I must have missed the memo because I went and read the first book, which is now making me feel conflicted! Why? Because I adored book one!!
In Song of the Abyss, we are once more dropped off into the lands of St. John del Mar, except eight years into the future. While book one followed the adventures of Elias, Mercedes, and King Ulises, they have now gone into retirement because of their old bones. Now we get a glimpse of this world through the eyes of Reyna, who was actually a pretty important side character in the first book! When I realized this was the case, I was a bit EHERM, worried
It was nice to see that my worry was only half-justified. I say half because when I put these two books together, Isle of Blood and Stone definitely comes out as the winner, but if I think about everything that we got in Song of the Abyss, well, we do get some nice content
“You don’t really believe she made that swim.”
“No, that part I believe,” Levi said. “But if she is a painter I’ll eat that compass.”
In Song of the Abyss, Reyna is on her way back home to St. John del Mar after being on an expedition for one year where she charted a new map. When she’s woken up by her bodyguard and told they have been attacked by possible pirates, strange ones that leave their enemies blank-faced and pliant, Reyna knows she must destroy all maps on the ship. Including the one she just made. A whole year of work destroyed. New routes and lands once more shrouded in mystery. Which is why she does what no mapmaker would ever do
She decides not to destroy the maps and escapes her taken ship, crosses the sea filled with dangerous sea lions and serpents, and lands right in the hands of the one family she didn’t want – the Lunes royalty. Specifically, one Levi Lamech, second son of King Lamech and captain in the royal navy
“We’re perfectly capable of doing what men can do. It does not mean we have to look like them.” She held up a hand when Reyna would have spoken. “Before you say anything more, I must tell you my physician says I am in a delicate stage and must not be distressed in any way.”
That silenced Reyna. Momentarily. “You’re shameless,” she said.
In terms of characters, I have to admit that I really liked Reyna. Considering the many girls in YA, I felt like Reyna was very mature for her age, possibly because of the things she experienced as a child, but possibly because that’s just her character. You could tell she really loved exploring, refusing to give in to the mapmaking men that only seemed to want to keep her indoors to make a family. While there were some moments where I couldn’t help but scream because talk about reckless!!, I also just thought it was cool that she didn’t hesitate to help those she loved
But perhaps the reason that she stands out on top of all other YA girls is that she doesn’t let the romance dictate her actions look I just finished reading Crier and SCREAMS. Like the first book, in this one, the romance is pretty clear cut and because of Reyna being Reyna, she’s very open and clear about her feelings, preferring to be honest than be led around by misunderstandings. That said, I do have to say that my favorite moments usually came from Levi, who was often feeling jealous over her relationship with a certain guy who I was sad didn’t get much story time!!
“We’ll see Jaime before you know it, and he’ll be swearing his love for you, and for me, and likely even for your handsome, brooding captain. You know he’s not particular.”
Outside of the romance and more into the worldbuilding and plot, I have to say I wasn’t very impressed. I really liked the first few pages because of how Reyna escaped the ship and then tricked Levi and his crew (#impressed). But after Reyna makes it back home, the pacing really slows down and we’re introduced into some mundane tasks like Reyna cleaning up a really messy room. And getting some dresses done. Even part of the voyage became a bit too much, even though it really did wonders for the relationship between characters. Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded all of this as much if the ending hadn’t felt as compressed as it did
Once I was in the last fifty pages for this book, the content felt a little rushed. There was no planning done and yet everything worked out for our characters. Which I was happy about because of ma boys, but also, it took away potentially suspenseful moments. I know while I was reading I kept thinking, has NOBODY been caught snooping? How is it all going so well? They must have their sneak at level 100
“What we choose to believe is powerful, Reyna.”
Overall, I’m glad I was introduced to this series but I didn’t really feel very attached to Song of the Abyss. There were a lot of fun moments (as I’m hoping I conveyed with the quotes I chose), but I felt like the payoff wasn’t as good as it could have been. I do recommend it if you like a mature 17-yo female protagonist, an interesting world where mapmakers are the heroes of the kingdom, and where the romance is clear cut and too soft for my soul
I gave it a 3/5 for a slightly above average read. I wonder briefly how my experience would have been if I’d read this one first and not Isle of Blood and Stone, which is where I fell in love with the worldbuilding
In Song of the Abyss, we are once more dropped off into the lands of St. John del Mar, except eight years into the future. While book one followed the adventures of Elias, Mercedes, and King Ulises, they have now gone into retirement because of their old bones. Now we get a glimpse of this world through the eyes of Reyna, who was actually a pretty important side character in the first book! When I realized this was the case, I was a bit EHERM, worried
It was nice to see that my worry was only half-justified. I say half because when I put these two books together, Isle of Blood and Stone definitely comes out as the winner, but if I think about everything that we got in Song of the Abyss, well, we do get some nice content
“You don’t really believe she made that swim.”
“No, that part I believe,” Levi said. “But if she is a painter I’ll eat that compass.”
In Song of the Abyss, Reyna is on her way back home to St. John del Mar after being on an expedition for one year where she charted a new map. When she’s woken up by her bodyguard and told they have been attacked by possible pirates, strange ones that leave their enemies blank-faced and pliant, Reyna knows she must destroy all maps on the ship. Including the one she just made. A whole year of work destroyed. New routes and lands once more shrouded in mystery. Which is why she does what no mapmaker would ever do
She decides not to destroy the maps and escapes her taken ship, crosses the sea filled with dangerous sea lions and serpents, and lands right in the hands of the one family she didn’t want – the Lunes royalty. Specifically, one Levi Lamech, second son of King Lamech and captain in the royal navy
“We’re perfectly capable of doing what men can do. It does not mean we have to look like them.” She held up a hand when Reyna would have spoken. “Before you say anything more, I must tell you my physician says I am in a delicate stage and must not be distressed in any way.”
That silenced Reyna. Momentarily. “You’re shameless,” she said.
In terms of characters, I have to admit that I really liked Reyna. Considering the many girls in YA, I felt like Reyna was very mature for her age, possibly because of the things she experienced as a child, but possibly because that’s just her character. You could tell she really loved exploring, refusing to give in to the mapmaking men that only seemed to want to keep her indoors to make a family. While there were some moments where I couldn’t help but scream because talk about reckless!!, I also just thought it was cool that she didn’t hesitate to help those she loved
But perhaps the reason that she stands out on top of all other YA girls is that she doesn’t let the romance dictate her actions look I just finished reading Crier and SCREAMS. Like the first book, in this one, the romance is pretty clear cut and because of Reyna being Reyna, she’s very open and clear about her feelings, preferring to be honest than be led around by misunderstandings. That said, I do have to say that my favorite moments usually came from Levi, who was often feeling jealous over her relationship with a certain guy who I was sad didn’t get much story time!!
“We’ll see Jaime before you know it, and he’ll be swearing his love for you, and for me, and likely even for your handsome, brooding captain. You know he’s not particular.”
Outside of the romance and more into the worldbuilding and plot, I have to say I wasn’t very impressed. I really liked the first few pages because of how Reyna escaped the ship and then tricked Levi and his crew (#impressed). But after Reyna makes it back home, the pacing really slows down and we’re introduced into some mundane tasks like Reyna cleaning up a really messy room. And getting some dresses done. Even part of the voyage became a bit too much, even though it really did wonders for the relationship between characters. Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded all of this as much if the ending hadn’t felt as compressed as it did
Once I was in the last fifty pages for this book, the content felt a little rushed. There was no planning done and yet everything worked out for our characters. Which I was happy about because of ma boys, but also, it took away potentially suspenseful moments. I know while I was reading I kept thinking, has NOBODY been caught snooping? How is it all going so well? They must have their sneak at level 100
“What we choose to believe is powerful, Reyna.”
Overall, I’m glad I was introduced to this series but I didn’t really feel very attached to Song of the Abyss. There were a lot of fun moments (as I’m hoping I conveyed with the quotes I chose), but I felt like the payoff wasn’t as good as it could have been. I do recommend it if you like a mature 17-yo female protagonist, an interesting world where mapmakers are the heroes of the kingdom, and where the romance is clear cut and too soft for my soul
I gave it a 3/5 for a slightly above average read. I wonder briefly how my experience would have been if I’d read this one first and not Isle of Blood and Stone, which is where I fell in love with the worldbuilding